BBA Year 3 students Hoang Thu Hai Yen, Phung Tan Hai Long and NUS Pharmacy student Tran Thuy Linh clinched the Champions title at the recent Heineken Case Challenge. Not only did they walk away with a cash prize of $1,500, they also had an amazing expenses paid trip to Amsterdam to enjoy the VIP Heineken Experience!
Hai Long shares the team’s amazing experience with Outside-in.
The Heineken Case Challenge is a case competition open to all undergraduates in Singapore. The team comes together to create a marketing campaign for the Tiger beer brand, which, despite its reception and popularity internationally, has struggled to stay relevant as the icon of Asian millennials. The brand is often perceived as ‘less exciting’ and cheap. As such, the team is tasked to create an idea that secure Tiger’s number one position in Singapore for the years to come and to evolve the Tiger brand with the younger generation, without compromising on the current drinkers demographics.
Our team recommended a marketing campaign called ‘Be a Tiger Warrior’, which leverages on the powerful Tiger image and create different warriors characters, represented by the brand’s product portfolio such as Tiger White and Tiger Black. These warriors will be interacting a Tiger Chief represented by the traditional Tiger Beer. The campaign aims to breath a new identity into the Tiger brand through activities that is relatable to both the youth and the older generations, thereby connecting them through new experience.
Over 120 teams participated and after 2 rounds we emerged as the overall champion. The prize was $1,500 and a paid trip to Amsterdam where we got to enjoy the VIP Heineken Experience and visit Heineken’s HQ.
In Amsterdam, we got to meet the Heineken Global Supply Chain Director, who explained to us the scale and the future prospects of the Heineken brand. He also showed us the various channels and markets where Heineken were distributed and the supply chain process enables the products to reach the targeted consumers. He also explained how Heineken is moving towards being a carbon neutral company, thus enabling its sustainability. We also had the opportunity to visit the original house of the Heineken family, which is not open to the public.
It was there that we learned about the history of the brand and the visions Mr. Heineken had when he bought the brewery. All in all, it was a fascinating experience in which we had a very clear overview of the complex and intricate processes that the Heineken brand utilizes to distribute its products globally, thus providing with insights into such an exciting industry that we, otherwise, would have never known.
The benefit of winning the competition also meant we were fast tracked to the final round of the Heineken Asia Pacific Graduate Programme and was invited to come back for an internship. Amsterdam also enabled us to peek deep into the processes of perhaps one of the most successful Dutch companies there is.
For more information on the NUS BBA programme, please visit bba.nus.edu.sg.